Unlocking a Critical Piece of SIF Prevention: The Human Factor

Hello, everyone. My name is Jason Bacigalupo. I'm a performance coach with Vomocity. And today, we're going to explore the human element of SIF prevention. And one of the things that's been very clear, in our partnership with Edison Electric Institute and its member organizations is that while injuries themselves have decreased over the last thirty years, the incidence of SIFs, serious injuries and fatalities, have remained relatively flat over the past decade. And so we really wanted to explore the human element of SIF prevention, which has become a big focus for those folks. Now to help dive into the human element alongside me today is doctor Kevin Rindal.

Doctor Kevin has a background in sports performance working with the US Olympic team to help ensure that those those folks are ready to go. They're ready to perform at the the highest possible level. And over the last decade, he's had the opportunity to bring those same best practices and principles to the energy workforce. And, really, when we think about it, those folks are using their bodies every single day to do their job just like athletes do. So why shouldn't they have access to those same best practices, tips, and stat strategies? So, doctor Kevin, welcome. And before we dive into the bigger topic at hand, would love if you could just provide the audience with a brief kind of overview lay of the land of the primary SIF prevention frameworks that are out there.

Yeah. Thanks so much, Jason, and really happy to be talking about, this concept. There have been so many people and organizations that have gone ahead of us with this conversation and really laid some important groundwork. A lot of that is based in the concept of the energy theory.

So, shout out to Doctor Matt Hallowell in the CSRA and, many of the other researchers who have really laid that groundwork talking about energy theory and bringing that, to the working environment. And so, really, energy theory is this this concept that all injuries are the release of some wanted some unwanted contact between a person and one or more sources of energy. And so, really, that, laid the foundation for, the energy wheel, which we see here in the the middle icon there that basically lays out all the different, types of high energy hazards that may be present on a construction site, in the electrical, gas, any any type of setting where high energy is present.

And the the whole concept of this is that, in order to be able to, prevent serious injuries and fatalities in that unwanted contact with with high energy, part of that is going through the process of hazard recognition, ideally, during the pre job brief where people can, look at the job site, look at the job scene, and, be able to identify the hazards that are present and then put direct controls in place so that we don't put, workers in in line of contact.

And, we have systems for avoiding, the unexpected and the unwanted. And then, also a shout out to Quanta Energy. Quanta, is obviously one of the largest, contractors in, the world, especially in North America.

And, many people like Matt Compher, who's their director of safety, have helped develop what we call the capacity model. And so the capacity model is really based on human and organizational performance, principles. And the idea there is that surge injuries and fatalities and that contact with, unwanted energy sources, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. And so if we can identify those hazards, put direct controls in place, then what that does is it creates the capacity in the situation, so that people can, you know, avoid those different types of injuries. And so, this these different frameworks, I think, have definitely been a game changer when it comes to us being able to prevent these type of injuries.

One of the things that we know, the SCL model, which, again, is, where EEI, the CSRA have really focused on that, those concepts. What they found is that, in when people are out there doing hazard recognition, about forty five percent of the hazards are are typically seen amongst the best safety professionals, but we can increase that hazard recognition just by putting simple things in place like the energy wheel or the capacity, model so that we have that framework.

And just by creating that framework, it gives people, something that they can use as a lens to go off of. And, it's been shown that it can actually increase, has recognition by about thirty percent. And so, yes, huge strides in terms of our, frameworks for how we can prevent these type of injuries.

Yeah. So it sounds like there's a been a tremendous amount of progress that's been made in engineering controls to not only help work for fail safely, but also, really create those frameworks.

As we think ahead, though, where do you see the biggest opportunities in SIF prevention today, and and where do you see workforce readiness fitting into that?

Yeah. So thanks for that question, Jason. So I kind of approach things from a a different lens and a different biases. I spent, you know, over fifteen years working in clinical practice, and thirteen of those those, years was working with elite and professional athletes.

As you mentioned, the US swim team for ten years, US women's ice hockey team for, another three years. And, really, the whole focus, when I was working with athletes it's it's funny. We use a lot of the same language. It's about building capacity in the athletes so that they can handle more stress and be more resilient to injury and, perform at a higher level.

And so I oftentimes joke, like, you know, I I played a lot of sports growing up, but if I were to take a, you know, a handoff in the NFL football game right now, it would there would be a serious injury or fatality that would happen, and that would be me because I don't have the capacity of a professional athlete, and I am not doing the things to to strengthen my body. And, you know, so in that type of a situation, that capacity is is absolutely critical. The other the other thing when it comes to athletics is, you know, I worked in a sport, where I saw, I mean, dozens of world records over the course of ten years get broken.

And, you know, some of those world records, were there for years and years, decades, for some of them, but we're constantly trying to figure out, okay, what are the things that we can do to to fine tune, the training to improve the performance from a you know, maybe it's hydration nutrition. Maybe it's the the strength training. It's, using different techniques in in the training to to push people at a different level. So we're constantly trying to to improve, the performance of those athletes.

And so as I've stepped back and I've looked at serious injuries and fatalities, you led off this conversation by talking about how, you know, TRIR and those, you know, recordable injury rates have been going down over the last thirty years. But we've stayed pretty flat lined from a serious injury and fatality perspective. And so as I step back and look at looked at that, I was like, man, this almost feels like an analogous situation where, you know, what are the things that we can do to fine tune serious injury and fatalities and maybe go from seventy five percent hazard observation to maybe it's eighty percent.

Maybe it's eighty five percent of the hazards are recognized since we can put the right direct controls in place. And so you asked the question about workforce readiness.

And, really, I I think that that kind of fits, again, into that building capacity in in the workforce, and it's, it's helping the the workforce athletes show up to the job, absolutely prepared for, for what they're about ready to do. So when I think about workforce readiness, I think about things like physical readiness. I think of mental readiness and then job specific readiness. You know, every athlete shows up, to competition, and they're thinking about how am I physically gonna be prepared for this competition?

Is my head in the game? Am I ready to go? And then it's, you know, sports specific readiness. They're doing things that are preparing for that activity that they're about ready to to engage in.

And so, again, from a sports medicine lens, I look at the workforce. I'm like, man, if we can help produce that readiness in those people, I think a few things that, will happen. Number one, people are gonna be more prepared for work. They're gonna have their heads in their game the game.

They're gonna be able to, you know, be better at hazard recognition, be better at putting direct controls in place, and ultimately, you know, perform their jobs more, safely because they have a better perspective on how to do that.

Yeah. One hundred percent. When I think about athletics, I mean, ultimately, when someone when someone shows up to the field, we want them to feel their best possible selves in order to perform and and create an environment for them where they can be successful because they feel confident, ready to go. Their bodies are in peak physical condition, and and they're ready to handle whatever that game and it's an unknown what that game is gonna throw at them or that that competition is gonna throw at them. And so being able to handle that. And so along those lines, how do factors like pain, fatigue, or stress impact workers' ability to recognize and then respond to hazards in real time?

Yeah. And I I think you're right on track with that because when I think about the physical readiness, one of the things that we know we know you know, just broad studies shows that just the general population, about fifty percent of people are in pain at any given time. I've spoken to, I don't know, probably ten thousand lineman substation employees, you know, people who do physical work, on a daily basis over the last ten years. And every single time that I ask the audience, like, how many of you are dealing with pain in your muscles or joints, I would say closer to eighty percent of the hands go up. And we've even, done some surveys with, you know, several hundred, people who are frontline workers, and, you know, we've seen that number be closer to, like, seventy nine percent. And so what that tells me is that pain is a real factor, for the workforce.

And when we look at pain science, one of the things that, we know is that, pain actually leads to things like distraction. And so imagine if if I have pain in my shoulder, my shoulder doesn't know it's there's a problem there. It's my brain that's actually interpreting those pain signals saying, hey. There's a problem.

You better watch out. You better do something to to deal with that because, you know, it's it's kinda like the check engine light going on. It's it's telling you there's a problem. Problem is is that those same data processing centers in our brain, where that pain is being processed are also, some of the primary areas where hazard recognition, calculation, and detection happens as well.

And when we're in pain, our body goes into fight or flight mode because it's all about survival. The body's always gonna prioritize survival, over anything else. And so, you know, there's really, really good evidence that shows that if somebody shows up to a job site, they're doing a pre job briefing, maybe they're doing hazard recognition, that distraction is a real thing, and they're probably not gonna be as good as, they could be if they're dealing with that. The other thing that we know is that, pain impacts things like mood.

We know that people who are in pain almost start to go into, like, tunnel vision, and they'll actually rush through tasks. And so there are some research that, shows that, you know, some people might actually cut corners or they may miss certain things just because they're trying to get through things. And I I think we've all been there too. I think we can relate to that.

When we're in pain, it's just like you just wanna get stuff done. And so, again, that that's one of those things that definitely increases, our risk for a serious injury or a fatality. And then you also asked, just about the mental aspect, and, we know that stress, causes us to also go into tunnel vision. I was talking to one of our utility partners that we work with, and they had an electric contact injury that, fortunately, the the person did not, die, but it was very, very serious.

And this is someone who, over twenty years on the job, doing those same tasks over and over again. And on the surface level, it would just look like complacency. You know, that person had done the job over and over again. But when they did the, investigation, what they found out is that, that individual, his wife, had delivered him divorce papers earlier that morning.

And so it's like again, I I think there's an opportunity. Sometimes we don't know what's going on, with the people around us, and so we show up to these job sites, and we have a lot going on physically, emotionally, mentally, and that really impacts things. And so going back to that workforce readiness, it's like, how do we incorporate some of those different components into a pre job brief so we can make sure people are physically, mentally, prepared for the job. Before before we lose track here, I do wanna say that one of the things that we know will help break the cycle when it come pain and reconnect, the brain with what's on going on in our environment is things like movement.

And so, movement has a way of resetting things. It stimulates, different muscles, different receptors within within the body that can override some of those pain signals. And so there are things like a pre job warm up. Again, it oftentimes, we just feel like it's checking the box doing a stretching flex or something like that.

But there is evidence that shows when people do incorporate movement, it actually reengages their brain and makes more aware, of their surroundings and and mentally ready to go. So I think that there's a really strong connection there that needs to be considered.

Yeah. That's, I think, a great call out that just the ability to disrupt that cycle through move it. And you also I mean, you talked about just the state of mind of someone when when they show up to work and don't quite know what might be going on for that individual or some of the challenges that they might be facing. And so it makes me wonder as well, like, you talked about that importance of steady drips of information, and that's possibly a way to break the cycle, whether it is through movement or through other types of education to help someone get their head in the game. And so what would you say are some of the most effective ways that companies can reinforce that so that when someone shows up, they're they're getting the opportunity to to break the cycle and and recognize hazards in real time?

Yeah. That's a great question. And one of the things that we've been doing with some of the partners that we, work with out there is, just take a look at the pre job brief, the tail board, the JSA, and it's like, okay. How do you how do you incorporate this concept of workforce readiness into that process?

Because all the research again, this is all stuff that, like, EEI and doctor Halliwall are showing is that that pre job brief is probably one of the most important, times of the, the entire work cycle where we can prepare people their minds and prepare for the the hazard recognition. So, again, I'm I'm a huge advocate of thinking about the physical aspects. And so physical, like we talked about, could be, doing incorporating movement, or maybe you're rolling out your muscles. Maybe you're doing stuff that's that's stimulating your body and preparing it for activity.

But then there are, other aspects of the physical that I think we can't ignore. So, like, hydration level.

We know that one percent dehydration, impacts the brain and how it functions. And any of us who have ever been working in a hot environment, exercising in a hot environment, or just go to, you know, Disney World on a July day, you know that when you're exposed to to those type of, conditions, that dehydration, can impact the brain function. So what does one percent dehydration mean? It means that if you're two hundred pounds, that's essentially thirty two ounces of water, which is about two pounds of water.

And, that level of dehydration, impacts the way that your brain thinks. We know that two percent dehydration, so sixty four ounces, can actually increase your risk of musculoskeletal injury. And so, again, think about, like, a sponge being dehydrated, and it's, you know, less resilient, less bendy, and and that's what essentially, what happens to our soft tissues. And so, dehydration definitely is is something that needs to be considered. We know that, if you have a five hundred kilocalorie deficit so, you know, think about sandwich is probably about five hundred kilocalories.

That can cause our, you know, brain fog. It can cause us not to be, as ready to go. And, we've all heard the term, the Snickers commercial. You know?

Or you're not yourself when you're hangry. Well, hangry, there's actually research that shows that that's that's a real thing, that when we are do have that, deficit, that puts us in that situation. So sometimes it's it's not even just what's happening at the start of the day from a pre job brief. It may be you're three, four hours into a job.

You're working in, you know, extreme conditions, and you need to step back, do that self assessment, make sure that you're you're ready to go, rehydrate, make sure you have some electrolytes, you know, make sure to get some food so that you're ready to go, and then relook at the different hazards that that are out there, because worksites are constantly changing. It's you know, what you start out with the day from the hazard recognition is totally different three or four hours into it in terms of what you need to be, prepared for. And then the third piece is, the job specific. And so I know one of the things that we, we really advocate for and talk about, is not necessarily telling people how to do their jobs, but when they're performing things like overhead work or bending, lifting, just reinforcing, simple concepts about how to position their body best when they're performing those, those tasks because, you know, it's kinda like driving with your car out of alignment.

If you're if you're, you know, go on a road trip, it's gonna put a lot of extra wear and tear on your, your vehicle. Same thing with your body. If you're, you know, maybe moving just slightly out of the ideal position because you're trying to avoid a painful position or maybe you just you know, it's a awkward, you know, job task that you're doing and you're putting your body in a position of increased stress, multiply that by time and repetition, and that can start to lead to to pain or an actual injury. So it's just reinforcing, you know, helping people think about how they perform their top job tasks from a job position standpoint so that they can reduce that stress.

Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting too because I think you you highlight a really important point, which is what happens at the start of the day and what happens during or throughout the course. The day might look entirely different, and it's easy to get into that get it done mindset. And so, really, from a from a worker perspective, how how do you help sort of mitigate that get it done perspective or just think about some of the decision making challenges that they might face that are gonna increase the risk of a serious injury or fatality?

Yeah. You know, I think that, we talked a lot about the workforce readiness aspect, but I think it also comes down to communication. Like, communication is so critical. And especially when you're talking about whoever is the foreman on that site, it's, you know, taking moments to regroup and reassess the strategy and and make sure that everyone's on track, everyone's got their heads in the game, and they're ready to go.

I mean, every single sporting event that you watch, they take timeouts to reassess what's happening and come up with a new strategy. It's like, why do we not take timeouts on on the job sites, you know, more frequently to to analyze what's happening and just make sure everyone's ready to go? I mean, we're constantly subbing people in and out of games, when when they're not ready to go or they're fatigued or, you know, maybe they just didn't show up that day as their best self, and and we need to make a substitution. So I I think there's a lot that we can learn from the world of sports, but it yeah.

It's the readiness. It's the taking time outs time outs, and it's the, you know, just analyzing, the risks that are out there so that we can keep people safe and healthy.

Fantastic, though. Thanks for that. And from your perspective, if an organization wanted to start integrating these concepts, human readiness, even the concept of taking time out or communicating into their SIF prevention strategy, what are the first couple of steps that they should be thinking about or taking in order to to really start integrating that approach?

Yeah. Again, I think it just goes back to some of the things that we talked about.

That pre job brief is a critical time, but then also, you know, as an organization saying, what are the cadence that we're gonna we're gonna take to reevaluate, the job environment to make sure that, you know, the things that have shifted, we're still safe, and we're understanding the risks, and we're putting direct controls in place as that, that project progresses.

It goes back to thinking about the workforce readiness. So, again, making sure people physically and, again, fit oftentimes, we think physical is just, the stretch and flex, but it's the hydration. It's the electrolytes. It's the nutrition. It's it's all those things that go into, making sure that somebody's physically ready to do the job. Fatigue is a huge part of it, you know, and it's a it's a real deal. And, you know, we just know muscles don't even work as well when we're fatigued, and so, people can make errors from that perspective.

Again, it goes back to the mental aspect. Again, do are people's heads in the game?

We talked about communication, but sometimes we have to be roll with people and we have to, you know, recognize those signs of fatigue. We need to recognize, you know, somebody may have some emotional stress. I I you know, nobody really likes to talk about it, but, you know, some people might have had a wild night the night before and, had too much to drink, and we need to have that into consideration. Are they are they ready to show up, to work? And then we need to have a plan for how we're gonna mitigate that.

And then, again, the job specifics. So, again, thinking through the task that people are gonna, perform and just make sure that everybody's set on how to do that in the best way. And and having the environment and the the trust amongst each other to, you know, make corrections, bring things up, ask questions, so that, you know, as a team, we're all working together to, to keep each other safe.

Doctor Kevin, I'll Oh, yeah. No. I was gonna say, great great slide here. We did put together a toolkit with some of these, these concepts listed there so people can, you know, scan the QR code. We also will follow-up with people with some resources.

But super grateful for this conversation. Again, so much, respect for the people who have laid the foundation for, for having this conversation and helping us think through different frameworks for how we can keep people safe and healthy on the job. Hopefully, you know, some of these, sports science analogies will will help, you know, spark some new ideas, and, we can together work on figuring out how can we, you know, continue to optimize people so that they can see those hazards and they can put the direct right direct controls in place and just keep people safe, healthy, and and going home.

Thanks for that. So, yeah, Doctor Kevin Rindal, thank you for sharing this perspective on SIF prevention and really, the the path through workforce readiness in order to to help drive down the opportunity for SIFs to occur. I want to thank everybody for attending today. Really appreciate, everyone making the time to to attend today's session.

I know this is a really important topic for a lot of you out there. So thank you all for for making that time. Again, anyone who did register for today's event is gonna receive access to the recording, so please feel free to share that with, anyone. And if there's other events that you'd like to access or if you'd like to stay on top of other events that are gonna be upcoming, go to vimocity.com backslash events, and you'll have access to all those resources there as well.

But, again, thanks everyone for your time today. Really appreciate everyone making, the taking the time to jump on and for the opportunity to connect with doctor Kevin Rindal on the human aspect of SIF prevention. Thanks, everyone.